spotted fever

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. any of several fevers characterized by spots on the skin, especially as in cerebrospinal meningitis or typhus fever.

2. tick fever.

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spotted fever British  

noun

1. any of various severe febrile diseases characterized by small irregular spots on the skin, as in Rocky Mountain spotted fever or tick fever

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Etymology

Origin of spotted fever

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Half of all Rocky Mountain spotted fever fatalities occur with eight days of disease symptoms starting.

From Washington Times • Dec. 9, 2023

Researchers have found that many of Staten Island’s Gulf Coast ticks carry a pathogen that causes a form of spotted fever.

From New York Times • Jun. 29, 2023

American dog ticks can spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2023

Every year people are diagnosed with and treated for tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

From Scientific American • Jul. 7, 2022

Then there were all the diseases one is vulnerable to in the woods—giardiasis, eastern equine encephalitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, schistosomiasis, brucellosis, and shigellosis, to offer but a sampling.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson